Trap.



A. D. RAMSEY.

TRAP.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 21. 1914.

1 179,557. Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET lrm: COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH con'wAsmNo'roN, n. c.

A. D. RAMSEY.

TRAP. APPLICATION FILED MAY 21.1914.

1,179,557. Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

THE CQLUMBiA PLANOGRAPH C0-, wAsHmG'mNin. c

55 Y i rear .wall: 4thereof and adjacent the upper ALONZO' D. RAMSEY, OFSEDALIA, TENNESSEE. I

TRAP.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

Application filed May 21, 1914. Serial No. 840,045.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALONZO D. RAMSEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Sedalia, in the county ofHancock, State of Tennessee,-have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in Traps; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear,'and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains't-o make and use the same.

This invention relates to an animal trap.

An object ofthe invention is to provide a device which after the animalhas entered will automatically close so as to retain it within saidtrap.

A further object of the invention is to provide for the encaging ofanimals which have entered the trap in such a manner as to cause them toautomatically reset the trap.

With these-and other objects in view, such as will appear as thedescription progresses, my invention comprises the combination andarrangement of parts as herein set forth and subsequently claimed.

Referring to the drawings :Figure l is a front elevation of my device,showing the entrance opened, part of the wire covering being brokenaway. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the device with parts thereof brokenaway to show the operating mechanism more clearly. Fig. 3 is a top planview of my device. Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5is a section on the line 5 5-of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a detail showing thecatch for holding the entrance doors in open positions.

Referring to the drawing by reference characters which indicate similarparts throughout the several views: My device comprises a base 1 made ofmetal or other suitable material having a flange 2 extending upwardlytherefrom. Detachably mountedon the base'is a rectangular cage 3 restingon the said base on theinside of the flange 2, said cage comprisingupwardly extending walls 4 and a horizontal top 5 which are made of wireor other such material. This cage is secured to thebase by hooks 6 oneachof the said walls 4 which are pivotally secured thereto by clips 7and which engage loops 8 struck from the flanges 2. In the front wall 4and in the lower corner thereof is a doorway 9 and directly oppositethesaid doorway 9 in the corner of the said wall is a second door 10,the purpose of which Wlll be hereinafter apparent.

-Attached to the base by a flange is a vertical wall 12 extendingupwardly within the cage and contacting with the top thereof to dividethe, cage into two compartments 13 and 14, the doors 9 and 10 beingarranged in compartment 13. Leading through this wall and connected withsaid compartments is a circular aperture 15 spaced from the base 1through which the animal after having entered through either of thedoors 9 and 10 may pass into the compartment 14 where it will beretained until removed.

To the portion of the base 1 within compartment 13 is a wooden runway 16which is attached to the said portion of the base by virtue of itsengagement with a flange 17 which is driven up into the said runway.Thisrunway covers practically one-half of the portion of the basedescribed. The other partsof this portion of the base 1 within thecompartment 13 is apertured, as at 18, and the material which is struckfrom said aperture is bent outwardly at the sides, asat 19, to formbearings 20 and at the front and rear to form flanges 21 and 22. Inthese bearings 20 is pivotally mounted on the axle 23 a bait tray 24having upstanding flanges 25 formed thereon, the upward movement of theforward end of this tray is limited by the flange 21 which cooperateswith the flange 22 on which the rear end of the said tray rests andlimits the downward movement of the rear end of the tray.

Pivoted to the under side of the base 1 is a tray 26 directly beneaththe aperture 18 and adapted to close the same and is detach-. ably heldin position by a hook 27 extending upwardly over the flange 2 of thebase 1.

Attached to the base 1 and to the vertical wall 12 are inverted U-shapedbraces 28 within the compartment 13. To the middle brace is secured .apair of trunnions 29 on which trunnions are pivotally. mounted levers,30 and 31, on one end of which levers is mounted a door 32 to close theentrance in the front wall of the device, while on the rear ends ofthese levers is mounted a door 33 to close the entrance in the rear wall4. On thelever 30 near the forward end thereof is secured an enlargement34 which when the forward door is in its open position closesth'e'aperture "15' and prevents the entrance of an animal through thesaid aperture into compartment" 14." on the rear end of this lever 30 isformed an outwardly ex tending hook member 35, which cooperates with anV upstandingcateh 36 secured by a' flange 37 tothe tray member 24. Thiscatch 36 has an outwardly projecting portion 38;?

under which the hook 35 catches. In order that this hook may be guidedbeneath the said portion 38' this catch is further provided with aninclined flange 39 which engages the under portion of the hookandrotates' the tray about its axis to cause the hookto engage beneaththeprojection 38;

In vorder that the doors 32 and 33 may be" kept in their closedpositions, I have pivotallymoun'ted onthe forward end ofthe lever 30 at30 an arm 40 having a limiting member'41 encircling the lever 30 andlimiting the movement of'the said arm in its upward direction.Projecting from this member 40 is a lug 42 which contacts with the upperedge ofthe lever 30 to limit the down ward movement of the said arm. Theouter end of this arm is beveled, as at 43, and cooperates with a lug44-struck from thever-f from the basel. Secured to one end of thismember 45 is a bottom 46, which closes the bottom portion of the saidmember 45 for approximately half of its distance and then extendsdownwardly and is secured to'the' base 1 to form a race-wayi'47. The endof the member 45 adjacent the said-race-way 47 is notched, as at'48, andhas an outwardly ward movement then engages the lever 30 projectingflange 49 extending from the upper edge of said notch. "Pivoted' withinthe member 45 on'a'pivot-50 which is mounted in the wall of the saidmember 45' and in the member 12 is a platform 51 having a'counter-weight 52*01'1' one of its'ends t'o'h'old the saidplatform inoperative position. 011' the platform 51 is an outwardly'projecting' lug58having a roller 59"mounte'd thereon' and extending through an "arcuateslot 60 in the vertical wall 12 and adapted to 00- operate with thelower portion .o'f'the lever 30 to throw the said leverinto its inoperative'position when the platform 51 is actuated in :one directionaboutits pivot. In T connection with the lug'58 and the roller 59 it ispointed out that the lug '58 extends through the slot .60 far enough toengage the latch 40 but not far enoughto engage the lever'30 so thatupon the upward movement of the lug 58 the latch 40 will be firstslightly raised'and then the lever '30 will be engaged by the roller 59and raised.

In the side 4 of a portion of'th'eicage *su rrounding 14 door 53pivotally secured thereto and having on its upper edge a p ivoted 'lever55 and a hook ,56. On the top of the cage adjacent this door is secureda second hook 57. When it "i's'desired to return this door to its closedposition; the lever is engaged beneath the hook 57--*andswung around andengaged beneath the hook 56, thus securely retaining the said door inits closed position.

' Assuming that the device is in its set position' and that the doors 9and 1.0 are open and the enlargement 52 closing the aperture 15 in thevertical wall 12 the'animal enters through: the doorway 9 :and proceedsto the pivoted tray 24 on which bait has been pre-' viously placed. Asit steps upon the for;

ward-end Of-this tray thesaid tray is rotated about its pivot 23 and thehook 35 released from the catch 38 and the levers 30 and 31 allowed tooscillate about their pivots to close the entrance through both thefront and rear walls of the doors 9' and 10. Si

multaneously the aperture '15 is opened'by the enlargement 34 beingwithdrawn therefrom and the doors 9 and 10 are locked in their closedpositions by the engagement of the beveled face 43 of the arm lug 44 onthe vertical wall '12.

The animal in endeavoring to escape passes through the aperture 15 on tothe lower end of the platform 51-- and as it ascends this platform tothe upper end thereof its weight causesthe said platform to rotate aboutits pivot andthe animal is precipitated into the compartment 1 14through the opening 48 infthe' end of the member 45. platform 51 the lug58 engages the arm 40 and lifts the same from its engagement with theprojection 44 and on its continued upand moves'the same upwardly, thusopening the doors 9 and'sldand simultaneously closing the aperture l-5l;In connection with the operation of the levers .30 and 31 and' levers 30and 31 will move about the pivot 29 so that the door 33 will be raisedand the door 32 lowered, this .movement' being caused'because of thefactthat the'iend of 1 the levers on which the door 32 is mounted isheavier because of the presence, of the arm 40. During this movement ofthe levers 40 with the During-this operation of the.

30-and= 31 the arm 40 will move about its pivot 30, being at t'he sametime moved downwardly by the levers,- until the .free end of-the armslides off of the upper edge of the lug 44. The member 41 will not limitthe movement of the lever until the saidfree. end has passedbeyond'thelug. When the free end is "disengaged from the lug 44 drawing.

the beveled face of the freeend will engage the lower edge of the saidlug as shown in the dotted line positions in Fig. 5 of the This arm 40will at this time prevent the upward'movement of the levers 30 and3lbecause of the fact that the lug 42 bears against the upper edge ofthe lever 30 and further because of the fact that any movement of thelevers to raise the door 32 would necessarily have to occur about thepivot 29. This movement would tend to draw the free end of the arm 40,that is, the beveled end more firmly into engagement with the lug 44 aswill be readily appreciated. Now when the lug 58 engages the lower edgeof the arm 40 it will move the arm about the pivot 30, the levers 30 and31 remaining stationary. .The end of the arm 40 will follow the pathindicated in construction' lines in Fig. 6 of the drawing and will moveaway from the lug 44 until it is entirely disengaged therefrom. At thistime the lug 58 will come into contact with the lower edge of the lever30 and any movement thereafter will raise the levers 30 and 31 to raisethe door 32 until the free end of the arm 40 again rests upon the upperedge of the lug 44. When these. doors have reached their open positionsthe hook 35 engages a latch member 38 and retains them in such position,the hook being guided into its engaging position by the member 39 on thesaid latch member 38. At this point the end of the arm 40 rests upon theprojection 44 and is in inoperative position. The platform 51 after .ithas been relieved of the weight of the animal oscillates about its pivotby virtue of the counter-weight 52 and closes the race-way 47 leading tothe compartment 14 so that the animal is retained in said compartment.When it is desired to remove the animal from this compartment it is onlynecessary to unlatch the door 53 and it may be readily removed.

While I have described the operation of the device when an animal entersthrough the door 9 it is to be understood that should the animal enterthrough the door 10 as soon as it treads upon the forward end of thetray 24 the mechanism is actuated and the operation is identical to thatabove described.

In order that the movement of the levers 30 and 31 on which the doors 9and 10 are mounted may be controlled, I have provided a governor 59which is slidable on the lever 31 and by the adjustment of which therelaive weights of the lever arms may be varied.

The portion of the base surrounding the bait tray 24 is trough-shaped soas to prevent any material portion of the bait entering beneath the trayto prevent its operation, but should any of the material be forcedbeneath the said tray it is only necessary to open the slide beneaththis tray and the material may bereadily removed, thus allowing the trayto again rotate.

It is some times desirable to use this trap to catch an animal as itcomes from its hole and in order to facilitate such catching, I haveprovided a run-way made of wire mesh detachably secured to the forwardwall 4 of the cage so that its inner end will coincide with the entrance9 and the opposite end may-be inserted in the hole so that as the animalcomes from the said hole it will be guided directly into the trap.

From the foregoing description it may be seen that I have provided adevice which will allow the animals to enter, but will prevent theirescaping therefrom, and I have further provided for the operation ofthis device to close the doors by the weight of the animal encaged. Ihave still further provided a device of simple and efficientconstruction which may be readily disassembled and cleaned as it becomesnecessary.

I do not wish to be limited to the particular construction of my device(IISCIOSGCLIOI' it is obvious that numerous mechanical changes may bemade within the scope of the invention as defined by the claims.

What is claimed is p 1. A trap comprising a base, a cage detachablysecured thereto and extending upwardly therefrom, a vertical wallattached to said base and dividing the cage into two compartments, anentrance formed in one of the compartments, levers pivotally supportedwithin the cage, a door secured to the ends of. said levers and adaptedto close the entrance aforementioned, a tray pivotally secured in thesaid compartment, a catch on said tray, a hook on one of said leverscooperating with said catch, said vertical wall having an aperturetherethrough, means on the lever to close said aperture when the hook isin engagement with the catch, a platform pivotally secured within theother compartment and in communication with the aperture aforementioned,and means to hold said platform in such position as to prevent access tothe aperture afore-mentioned.

2. In a device of the class described, a cage having an entrance in oneside thereof, levers pivoted within the cage, a door secured to saidlevers for closing the entrance, a partition within the cage to dividethe same into two compartments and having an aperture leading from onecompartment to the other, means on one of said levers for closing saidaperture, means for cooperating with the last mentioned lever to operateit so as to open the said aperture, an arm beveled on the said lever forholding the means for closing the aperture in inoperative position, saidarm having an inclined edge for operating with a i lug on the Verticalwall to communication with each compartment, an

latch thereon,

entrance in one of said compartments and means for closing the same, alever. pivot ally secured to said vertical wall and having anenlargement on one :end thereof to close said aperture, a hook on theother .end thereof, a catch for engaging said hook to hold saidenlargement in operative position,

means for releasing said catch-to open said aperture, a platformpivotally secured in the other compartment in communication with saidaperture and being inclined upwardly therefrom so that when weight isapplied to its outer end it will be oscillated about its pivot, aprojection formed thereon and extending through the vertical wall and inengagement with the said lever to move the enlargement thereon intooperative position to close the aperture when the free end of theplatform is moved downwardly.

4:. In a device of the class described, a rectangular cage, averticalwall dividing the same into two compartments, doorways leading intooneof said compartments, doors for closing said doorways,'le versmounted in the said compartments and attached to the said .doors, a traypivoted below the said levers and having an upwardly extending a hookcooperating withsaid latch to hold the levers in such position that thedoors carried thereby will be inoperaprevent upward I the aperture,

enlargement .on one of the lever-s for closing the said aperture whenthe doors are in inoperative position, an arm on said lever arranged tomaintain-the doors in operative position, a platform pivoted in theother compartment and in communication with a counter-weight-on saidplatform, a projection on the platform cooperating with the lever toraise the same and with the arm thereon to throw it into inoperativeposition when force is applied to the free .end of said latform.

5; In adevice of. the class described, a trap comprising a base and acage member detachably secured thereto, an entrance in one wall of saidlast mentioned member, a run-way detachably secured to said entrance,and arranged so as to guide all animal into the said entrance, avertical parti-- tion within the cage, anaperture within the partition,means for'c'l'osing the said aperture, means for holdingit in its closedposition, means for throwingthe said closing means in inoperativeposition, and means for locking saidc'losingmeans in such position, aplatform pivotally secured within the cage and in communication with theaperture construction and, arranged to'pre vent access to the saidaperture when the closlng means 1s 1n lnoperatlve posit on.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my s gnature, in the presence of twowitnesses. ALONZO D. RAMSEY. Witnesses: V 7

B'. J. RAMSEY, o OLIN W. JoNEs.

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